CU-Boulder THTR 3011 - Notes for Test 1 (4 pages)

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2Development of the American Musical European antecedents Ancient Greek Theatre Major influence for ALL Western theatre Spectacle masks Introduction of the chorus chanting voice of the people help set tone exposition introduce characters judge characters question things happening around them Choral songs which comment on the action voice of the people Choral dance So We think Opera Dramatic works usually tragic primarily sung arias and recitative with orchestral accompaniment opulent staging Mythical creatures royalty highly trained grand costumes Ballad Opera weird al Used popular tunes with rewritten lyrics Written about the lower class Spoken dialogue instead of recitative Satirical Operetta little opera Comic or romantic plots Dialogue instead of recitative usually Happy endings Simple plots but still required virtuosity from performers Presentational acting style directly to the audience o 2 styles of action presentational vs representational in moment in scene wall between audience and characters operetta Sir W S Gilbert lyricist librettist Sir Arthur Sullivan composer Patter song lots of lyrics sung quickly for comic effect Introduced main 2 types in all theatre Reflective song thinks about moment situation reflects on it Active song character undergoes significant transformation during course of the song Melodrama music drama Before Minstrelsy most popular form of entertainment Spoken text action has musical underscoring Stock characters one dimensional know who is good bad Simple morality poetic justice good comes to those who are good Contrived plotThe Black Crook 1866 the 1st musical Charles M Barress Melodrama ballerinas music words movement Troop of ballerinas into the melodrama Made over a million dollars extremely successful American Operetta Victor Herbert Dominant composer of the early American stage Musical versatility Naughty Marietta most famous Conductor AND composer AND orchestrator Minstrelsy Began in early 19th century White male performers